Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (28 page)

“You’re
so big.”  Ty continued, spurred on by his obvious enjoyment.  “And you’re going
to take me against the wall, because you can.  No one can stop you.  I won’t
stop you.  You can have me whenever you want and I’ll let you.  You pull off my
clothes and I tell you to hurry.  I know you won’t stop until you’re deep
inside of me.”

Gion
swore dazedly.  “Where the hell did you learn to do this?”

Ty
hesitated, coming out of the safe, more aggressive, persona that the story gave
her.  “I just read a lot.  Not all of it’s textbooks.  Do you like it?”

“Are
you kidding?  Jesus, I knew I loved your brain.  Keep going.”

Ty
grinned, as turned on as he was.  She lowered her voice and sped up her hand. 
“So, you lift me up and my legs go open.  I’m so ready.  I can’t move on my
own, because you have me trapped.  But, that okay.  I don’t want to get away. 
I need you.  You’re pushing hard against me and I whisper, ‘Gion, take me. 
Please.’”

“Fuck.” 
His hand came up to clench in her hair and Ty knew he was close.  “Holy fuck,
you’re incredible.”

Learning
as she went, Ty responded to that positive review.  “I unzip your pants and
it’s taking so long.  I can’t wait.  I cry, ‘Gion,
please
.’  And you
finally tear my underwear off.  I’m wet and throbbing.  You watch me, seeing
how much I want you.  I’m pressed between the wall and you.  Hot and panting
and begging you to hurry.”

His
body arched towards her.  “Gaia.”  He was going to lose control any second.

Ty
pulled out the big guns.  “Then, you pause, right at the entrance to me. 
Suddenly, you say that you’ll stop.  You say that you’ll find me someone else,
if I want.  I can have any man in the universe and
he’ll
take me against
the wall, hard and fast, just like I’m aching for.”

“Hold
on.”  Gion swallowed.  “Your fantasy can’t have…”

She
interrupted his complaint.  “And I say, ‘Gion, I only want you.  No one else
will
ever
do for me.  Only you.’”  Her fingernails grazed across him in
an erotic scratch and his whole body shook.  “And you sink into me, as deep as
you can go.  So deep.  I’m so tight and you’re so thick.  You’re taking
everything, marking me as yours.  I’m screaming your name, promising you
anything if only...”

“
Ty
.”  
Gion came in a rush, his eyes squeezing shut.

The
Air energy slammed against her and Ty gasped in pleasure.  The Water powers
swirled under the pressure, lighting up her system like a Christmas tree.  Ty
felt Gion’s energy everywhere.  She let out a contented sigh as his power
pulled at her sensuously, whipping around her, inside and out.  The problem was
better with him coming, rather than her.  The Water powers didn’t feel so
chaotic and trapped.

But,
the block stayed in place.

“Jesus.” 
Gion lay there for a second, breathing hard.  “I felt it that time.  When my
powers reached for you, something was in the way.”

“I
know.”  Ty felt wonderful despite the problems with her energy.  She was
utterly pleased with herself and her innate talent for sexual play.

For
once she
hadn’t
been too weak.

She’d
been brave enough to try seduction and it had worked.  She’d just driven the
biggest bogeyman in the Elemental realm to a rocketing orgasm.  With Gion around,
she could do anything.

“We
can fix the block.”  Ty had total confidence as she smiled at him.

Gion
didn’t respond to that.  He ran a palm through her hair.  Ty could read the
concern behind his eyes and decided to distract him, again.

“You’re
supposed to be telling me what a natural skill I have for seduction.”

He
gave her a baffled look, still trying to get oxygen.  “You can’t
possibly
have any doubts about that.”

Ty
nodded.  “Sure, I can.  I never did that before.  I’d like some feedback.”

Gion
gave a short, beautiful laugh.  “God, you do love compliments.

“I
was an exceptional student in school.”  Ty retorted.  “All overachievers like
to hear what a good job they’ve done.  That’s why they’re overachievers.  You
should know that.   You’re the biggest perfectionist in the world.”

“No,
I’m not.”

“Of
course, you are!  And don’t distract me.  Come on, out with the flowering
praising.”

“Alright. 
On a scale of one to ten, you were about a four.”  He kissed her nose.  “Sadly,
I think I’ll have to spend a lot of time tutoring you.  Don’t worry, I’m up for
it.”

“Be
serious.”

“Just
think up some more stories for me to enjoy.  Jesus, I can’t believe how good
that was.”  He wiped a palm over his face.  “I never imagined you could do
that.  You have a gift, Ty.  If you ever share it with anyone else, I’ll send a
pack of tornados and they will rip him apart.  I swear to Christ.”

That
was better.  “And?”

“Well…” 
Gion ran his hands over her body as if memorizing the feel of her skin.  “I
believe I already used the word ‘incredible.’”

“And?”

Gion
arched a brow.  “
Very
incredible?”

Ty
rolled her eyes.  “Forget it.”  She flopped her head back down on his chest and
sighed.  “You’re impossible.”

Gion
rubbed his chin against her curls.  “If I could have any woman in the universe,
I’d still only want you.”  He paraphrased soberly.  “And that’s the truth.  No
one else will
ever
do for me.  You don’t need to worry about that, Ty. 
There’s only you.  For me, there is only
you
.”

“Really?” 
Ty drew back to stare at him.

He
gazed at her, dark, and solemn, and unwittingly the most romantic man Ty ever
knew.  “Really.”

Ty
realized that what she felt for Gion was growing to fill her entire soul. 
“Would you just lay here with me?”  She asked, confused by this huge twist in
her lonely, predictable life.  “Would you just hold me, for a while?”

Gion
dropped his forehead against hers.  “Forever.”

There has never been
any great talent without an element of madness.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca-
‘On Tranquility of Mind’

Chason
only said one word when Raiden entered his study: “Why?”

“Ty,
of the Water House is vital to our world.”

Chason
ground his jaw together.  He looked over at Lansing, taking in his furious,
betrayed expression.  By saving Ty, Raiden had just become enemy number one on
the Reprisal’s internal shit-list.  Why did all the best soldiers have to be so
crazy?

“Since
we plan to destroy the world any day now, I’ll need a better explanation than
that.”  Chason told Raiden through clenched teeth.

Raiden’s
face revealed nothing.  “Another reason?  I would never dishonor my Match, and
kill a defenseless woman.  No matter what.”

His
Match
.

Chason
gasped in a lungful of air at the words.

Inside
Chason, there was an empty spot where Mara lived.  His heart was gone, but he
could sometimes still feel it like a phantom limb.  Sometimes, he remembered
his Match and the man he was with her.  In those moments, Chason saw through
his fog of grief and rage.  It hurt like a physical blow to remember, but he
could feel her where his heart had once been.

As
the insanity pulled him further down, the small movements of Chason’s missing
heart grew less and less frequent.  Silence echoed, beckoning him to forget
her.  At one time Chason would have welcomed the stillness.  Now, he knew that
the tiny connection to Mara was all that kept him sane.

When
a Phase was decapitated their head sometimes stayed alive for a period of
seconds afterwards.  Disconnected from the body, the nerve endings in the brain
still retained the impulses to blink and move.  Maybe even to think and see and
hear.  To live for a heartbeat of time after death.  To feel everything and
nothing.

It
was impossible for most people to understand what the head experienced.

But,
Chason knew.

That’s
what his entire life was, now.

He
was the severed head, realizing that it was already dead, but still moving. 
His heart had detonated like a supernova after Mara’s death.  The light and
force of it lasting long after the star itself was gone.  Once the remnants of
the explosion faded, Chason’s heart would go completely still.  The decapitated
head would join the rest of the body.

The
time for that drew closer.  The darkness of insanity loomed beneath him,
crawling under his feet.  It kept pace with him, staying out of sight, but
always there, peering through the floorboards… waiting.  A skeleton of bleached
bones and terribly empty smiles.

When
the phantom beats of Chason’s heart finally stopped --when Mara went away-- the
skeleton would drag him down into the pit.

But,
it wouldn’t be today.

For
better or worse, today Chason still felt her.

Raiden’s
blunt words caused something to happen inside Chason’s chest.  Memories.  His
Match and Ty, of the Water House reading
Ismena
under a tree.  Ty, so
young she fit on Mara’s lap, as the pages of the book turned.  Mara laughing
and hugging her close.  Happy.

Fuck.

“This
is war!”  Lansing bellowed.  “You don’t even have a Match, Raiden!  You’ve
never
had one.”

“I
have a Match.”  The words were simple and flat.  “Everyone does.  I’ll never be
with her, but I won’t be a man who she’d hate.”

Chason
heard the music, again.  The Andrew Sisters, singing in perfect three part
harmony, filled his head. 
I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time
. 
Mara’s favorite song.  It cut through him like screams from Hell.

Chason’s
eyes squeezed shut.

“You
disobeyed a direct order.”  Lansing insisted.  “Chason said that Ty was to be
brought to him and, instead, you gave her back to Gion!”

“Ty
belongs with Gion.  I saw that today.”

“You
deserve execution, you traitor!”  Lansing turned to Chason, clearly expecting
his commander to order Raiden dragged away in plastic restraints.

Chason
looked at Raiden, wondering if he even
could
execute him.  The Radiation
House certainly hadn’t had much luck.  “What did you see?”

Radioactive
green eyes caught his.  “I’ve seen us at a crossroads.”  Raiden’s voice took on
the far-away tone of someone gazing onto a vast well of secrets.  “If Ty, of
the Water House dies in this battle, the universe will fall.”

“That’s
the fucking
plan
, you idiot!”  Lansing roared.

“If
the woman survives, though, you’ll have what you really want.” Raiden kept his
attention on Chason.  “I don’t understand the vision, but it’s there.”

“Parald
dies, if Ty lives?”  Chason would spare Ty if it meant destroying Parald.  He
didn’t really want Ty hurt, anyway.  If Raiden said they couldn’t kill Ty
and
Parald, then Chason believed him.  Raiden’s prophesies were always right. 
Given a choice, Chason would rather Parald suffer than punish Gion.

“I
don’t know what happens to the Air House.  Not exactly.”  Raiden shook his
head.  “But, I’ve seen what you really want.  The only way to have it is to
keep Ty alive.”

“The
only thing I want is Parald dead.”

“No.” 
Raiden intoned.  “It’s not.  Ty is vital to our world.  She’s the key for you
and you’re needed in the coming war.”

“The
fucking war’s about to end!”  Lansing screamed.

Raiden
snorted, totally without humor.  “There’s always another war.”

Chason
ignored that.  The empty place in his chest pounded with some emotion he didn’t
recall as he surveyed Raiden’s utter assurance.  Raiden:  Fucking insane maniac
and the only Phase Chason listened to.  “What did you see?”  He whispered,
again.

Raiden
met his eyes dead-on.  “I’ve seen your Match returned to you.”

Seven
words that changed everything.

It is a strange thought, how
many of us had been storing up the elements of this catastrophe,

for how long a time, and
with how blind an ignorance of what we did.

Robert Louis Stevenson- ‘The
Master of Ballantrae’

Isaacs hurt and it scared him.

He’d lost a lot of blood.  The
sword wounds in his side and shoulder would take weeks to heal properly without
a doctor.  Since medical professionals weren’t exactly lying thick on the
ground in the Air Kingdom these days, there was no way he was going to have a
real high standard of care.  Isaacs had stitched himself up before, though.  He
could have handled that part.

This was far worse.

Isaacs couldn’t
see
.

When Lansing had blown the dirt and
glass particles into his eyes, it had caused real damage.  That sociopathic
Dust Phase had done something extra with the glass.  It wasn’t coming out.  It
scratched and throbbed every time Isaacs blinked.  A sense of panic filled him,
more horrifying than the pain.

His sight was all screwed up and,
in the Air House, that meant he was fucked.

Everything in his field of vision
had an unfocused halo around it.  He couldn’t possibly fight like this.  And,
if Isaacs couldn’t fight, then he didn’t have a place in Parald’s kingdom.

Amarna shined a light into his left
eye and Isaacs did his best not to cringe.  It felt like a hat pin sinking
through his pupil and straight into his brain.

“Isaacs, can you tell how many
fingers I’m holding up, right now?”

No.  He couldn’t.  He saw nothing
by a flesh colored blur.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

“Two.”  He said, keeping his voice
confident despite the pounding of his heart.

Isaacs knew from her total silence
that he’d guessed wrong.

An
annoyed sigh came from the doorway, telling Isaacs that Parald was still
lurking around.  “Gion never went blind.”  He announced sourly.

“I’m
not blind!”

“
Isaacs, I think that you’re really in trouble here.” 
Amarna murmured.

He locked his jaw against the
string of vicious curses.  Amarna wasn’t an expert.  She was a fucking
maid
. 
Her uncle might’ve been the old king, Seneca, but that hardly made her an
ophthalmologist.

He needed a real doctor.

Isaacs sure wasn’t going to call up
Freya for medical attention, though, so his options were pretty damn limited. 
Why the hell had so many doctors died in the Fall?  Why the hell didn’t the Air
House have anyone qualified to help him?

Shit!

He got to his feet, shoving passed
Amarna and heading back towards his bathroom.  He tripped over something as he
went.  It might have been a boot.  Isaacs couldn’t see it.  The sink was still
filled with water from his last attempt to flush out the glass.  He dunked his
head in the basin, again, rapidly blinking his aching eyes, praying that
something would happen.

Even before the Fall, he’d never
had any faith.  Not in God, or Gaia.  Certainly, not in Parald.  Not even in
himself.  But, still he prayed.

Isaacs had nothing but his work. 
He was a solider and if he couldn’t do that, then he
was
nothing.  He
wouldn’t have anything left.  The Air House didn’t tolerate weakness or Phases
that couldn’t pull their own weight.

And it wasn’t like anyone was going
to keep him around for his damn charm.

Isaacs pulled his head out of the
water and ran a palm over his face.  He tried to focus in the mirror.  Tried to
see himself.  Tried to see anything except the blur of colors.

Oh… shit.

Ty should have let him die.  If the
Water energy hadn’t helped him --If she hadn’t pulled him away from Lansing’s
blade-- then, this would be over.  Isaacs would be dead.  He’d rather be dead
than useless.

Which was pretty convenient,
because his fearless leader was going to kill him.

“Can he be fixed?”  Parald demanded
from the outer room.  The son-of-a-bitch didn’t even bother to lower his voice.

“I don’t know, sire.”  Amarna
pitched her tone at a stage whisper, but Isaacs still heard her.  Maybe his
other senses were already kicking into hyper-drive.  “He needs a real doctor. 
We heal quickly, but it’s only been a few hours…”

“I don’t want to hear fucking excuses!” 
Parald interrupted.  “Jesus, this is the Air House!  We don’t baby our
warriors.  If he can’t even get his eyes to work, he’s a fucking disgrace to
his uniform!”

“He needs help, sire.  A few days
rest might…”

“I don’t run a fucking charity
ward.  If he can’t pull his weight as a soldier, he can work in the kitchens. 
Send him downstairs.  I’ll find a way to get my Match without his bungling.” 
The door slammed as Parald stomped off, screaming for Saxon.

Isaacs dropped his head forward. 
Water dripped from his blond hair down the line of his jaw.

This was the end.

Not only had Isaacs
not
brought Ty to Parald… not only had Job and Gion sent all their asses packing…
not only had they pissed off the entire Elemental realm to an even deeper
extent with the raid on the Agora… but now Isaacs was useless, too.

Parald didn’t tolerate useless
people around him.

Sooner or later, Parald would have
him killed.  Until then, Isaacs would be relegated to the kitchens, serving the
men who should have been following his commands.

Humiliated, hurting, blind… And
soon dead.

In
the Air House, there was no feeling sorry for yourself or asking for a
timeout.  You had to take the hit, stand up, and keep going.  Somehow, Isaacs would
regain his sight, but he knew better than to try and tell Parald that.  He had
to think of a way out of this all on his own.

Isaacs didn’t want to die.

He especially didn’t want to give
that asshole Parald the satisfaction of killing him.  He
would
see,
again.  Isaacs wouldn’t die with nothing but distorted shadows around him.  He
wanted to die like a soldier.  He wanted to die killing Lansing, of the Dust
House.

And possibly Gion.

In a way, Gion had
really
done this to him. 
And now that bastard was living the
sweet life with eyes that fucking
worked
.  Safe in the Water Kingdom,
Gion could kick back and raft around swimming pools or whatever the hell they
did in that bohemian Shangri-la.

Isaacs
had never actually been to the Water Kingdom, but he envisioned it as something
out of a “Visit the Mediterranean” travel poster.  Sun bleached blue sky, breezy
cabanas on the sand, and perfect ocean views in every direction.  Gion could
From
Here to Eternity
up and down the beach with his curvy little red head and,
meanwhile, Isaacs would be scrubbing dishes.

Or
maybe even worse.

Parald
might not let a blind guy near the Air House china.  Who the hell knew what
kind of degrading plans were in store for Isaacs, now.

No.

He
squeezed his useless eyes shut and took a deep breath.

No.

Parald
wouldn’t get away with that.

Isaacs’
mind went to murder.  Killing Parald would solve his most immediate problem,
but there would certainly be some real challenges with it, too.  Not being able
to see well enough to aim for Parald’s neck, for instance.  Also, if
decapitating that asshole was really an option, Gion would have already done
it, right?  The fact that Parald still had his head attached made Isaacs
suspicious that he’d missed a memo somewhere along the line.

So
how else could he get through this?

Isaacs
thought back to the question he’d asked himself sixty times a day as a young
warrior: What would Gion do?

What
would Gion do if he’d been blinded and humiliated and marked for death?

Easy.

He’d
survive.  He’d get the hell away from the Air Kingdom.

Amnesty.

From
out of nowhere, Isaacs heard Ty’s voice back in the Agora:

Isaacs,
if you help me, I can get you out of the Air House.  I’ll give you amnesty in
the Water Kingdom.

Well,
he
had
helped her, right?  And he had information he could offer her,
too.

The
Water Phases were a bunch of bleeding heart, Kumbaya-ing, “let’s give our food
to crippled orphans,” do-gooders.  Like something out of the
It’s a Small
World
ride, where all the little robots sang in ear bleedingly cheerful
unison.  While the Air House children drilled on mathematics and memorized that
damn
Be the Perfect Air Phase
book, the Water Phase kids probably went
on nature hikes for pretty seashells and danced around maypoles.

Isaacs
had always found the Water House pathetic.  After suddenly
becoming
a
crippled orphan, though, they suddenly seemed a hell of a lot more useful.

He
pushed away from the sink and stalked back into his bedroom.

Amarna
was still in there, cleaning up the eye care supplies.  Isaacs felt her looking
at him when he entered the room.  Felt her pity.

Fuck
her.

The
world was about to find out that Isaacs, of the Air House still had some tricks
up his sleeve.

“We’re
gonna talk.”  He said flatly.  “
Now
.  I’ve been in charge of security
here for a week and I already know about the rebels.”  Which meant that Gion
must’ve known about them, too.  Under other circumstances, Isaacs would have
held that against the dickhead.  Now, it seemed like Gion’s switching loyalties
had done him a favor.

“The
rebels?”

Damn,
she was a cool little thing.  “The rebels that you’re organizing against
Parald.”

“I
think the pain must be confusing…”

“Shut-up,
alright?  Jesus!  Do you think I give a rat’s ass about you and your crusade? 
Kill Parald, don’t kill him, I don’t care anymore.  This is about
me
.”

Silence.

“You’re
gonna help me.”  Isaacs continued, spurred on by her stillness.  “Because, if
you don’t, I’ll tell him who the leader of the rebels is and we’ll see which of
us he kills first.”

“You’re
not his favorite person right now.”

“Maybe,
but at least I’m not a servant.” 
Yet
.  “Which one of us do you think
he’ll believe?  I mean, do you really think he’ll even take a
chance
that I might be right?”

More
silence.

“What
do you want?”  Amarna asked after another long pause.

Isaacs
smiled grimly.  “I want to talk to Ty, of the Water House.”